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Editor’s Note: With the cancellations of community events due to COVID-19, The News-Herald’s calendar listings will begin with events happening Aug. 1. The ongoing monthly events will also be listed. Before attending an event, contact the organizers to find out if it has been cancelled.

A team of workers for Summit Academy Schools are coordinating the food packaging for a distribution to parents at various locations throughout the district. All locations and future distributions are posted on the district's website.

Downriver school districts distribute hundreds of bags of food to families; all gone within minutes

A team of workers for Summit Academy Schools are coordinating the food packaging for a distribution to parents at various locations throughout the district. All locations and future distributions are posted on the district's website.

Photo courtesy of Summit Academy Schools

Staff at Summit Academy Schools and volunteers are putting together bags of food for children out of school. Check the district's website for dates and times.

Photo courtesy of Summit Academy Schools

Boxes of food will be prepared for students throughout the next few weeks while school is out due to the coronavirus.

Is there a need for food assistance for Downriver children in light of schools being closed?

The line of cars filing into Davidson Middle School in Southgate, Lincoln Park High School and elementary and middle schools in Taylor on Tuesday morning for free food supplies for the next seven days seems to suggest the answer is absolutely.

The sudden closure of schools throughout the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic has many parents scrambling to provide some meals that children typically would receive at school.

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School districts throughout Downriver are taking to their respective Facebook pages and announcing various food distribution sites, either at schools or bus stops.

The first run at the distribution for food in Southgate and Lincoln Park went so quickly that many parents were left circling the block wondering if they had the wrong location.

They actually had the right location, but their timing was bad.

The distribution was scheduled to be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but those distributing food in Southgate said their bags were gone in less than 15 minutes — stunning news for those who arrived within the first 30 minutes of the assistance program.

Jessica Gilley and Lisa Arbenowske, part of the crew distributing bags of food to cars for those who asked, said they were surprised everything went so quickly.

“I think we had about 500 bags,” Gilley said. “They were given out on the honor system. We gave them the number of bags for the children they had.”

Arbenowske said they were still making bags of food while people were driving through the line.

“There were about 40 of us altogether organizing the distribution,” Arbenowske said. “I never thought we would run out of food.”

Krystle Payne of Lincoln Park pulled up in her car with more than an hour to spare, according to the schedule.

She was coming from the Lincoln Park distribution, where she got about half way through the line before bags ran out there.

Payne was hoping to get food for her three children at the Southgate location, but was not among those first in line.

“These kids are going to be out of school for such a long length of time,” she said. “My husband’s job might shut down. We need the basic supplies.”

Payne said just about every place they go has run out of the necessities.

Missing out on the distribution in Southgate certainly was a disappointment to Nazar Ghafoor of Southgate who has two children in school receiving reduced lunch.

“I’m disappointed that there are people in need and some others just took it because of the panic,” Ghafoor said.

He believes in order for the bags to have gone so quickly, some people took advantage of the district’s intent to look out for children as a whole.

Noemi Agposto missed the cut, as well.

The Southgate woman said she was excited to hear the district was looking out for the children and offering the distribution, but has seen the “panic buying” first hand and said she feels this was just another version of it.

“People are frantic,” she said. “I pulled up and I thought there was no way it could all be gone that fast. I’m disappointed.”

Marilyn Rutkowski of Southgate came to the school just to get her hands on a few basic things for her children.

“I was just looking for things to get us by,” Rutkowski said. “We all are struggling to get by and just need something to carry you, but people are panicking and hoarding. Let the next person have a little, share.”

Joseph Phillips came by to see if he could grab a couple of bags for his two grandchildren.

The Southgate man said both of their parents are working and can’t get away.

“I came to check it out,” Phillips said. “I’ll see what Riverview is doing.”

Phillips said he’s 72 years old and has the time to do these kinds of things for the grandchildren.